WOW...what a week!

(this is incredibly wordy but useful for my own memory and perspective, scroll through for pictures)

Sometimes you just have one of those days/weeks that leaves you wondering "what just happened?".  That is how I felt about last week!  The hubby was out to Sea and because I had a bunch of things I wanted to accomplish and I wasn't feeling the greatest my mom offered to come help me out!  I am really not good at taking it easy so I figured if my mom were here to play with Aiden I could do a bunch of running around with out lifting Aiden in and out of the truck and in and out of a shopping cart!  Boy was I glad she was here...

Those who know me well, know that our dog is truly part of the family!  We bought Buddy when he was 11 weeks old and we were juniors in college!  He was our first baby and the closest thing we had to a child for his first 8 years of life and our first 5 years of marriage.  Where we go, Buddy goes!  Simple as that!!!    Monday morning Aiden came to tell me that Buddy was bleeding????  Sure enough he had a bunch of blood on his backside!  I called the vet and took him right in.  They believed it was an infected anal gland but my "fierce" husky wouldn't let them get a good look so they wanted to put him under to clean it up really good! So we scheduled it for Tuesday.

I hadn't been feeling so great for about 2 weeks.  I have been having some severe pains and after my mom caught me doubled over in pain she insisted I call the doctor.  I was pretty sure I knew what it was but figured "what the heck, it can't hurt to call".  Of course they wanted to see me first thing SO...Tuesday I drop Aiden at school, drop Buddy at the vet, and head to the doctor! (Did I mention Hubby was gone, of course he was)  Thankfully my mom was with me because my "pains" weren't just pains they were actually contractions.  Like real contractions...SERIOUSLY???  I definitely thought it was stretching ligaments but I was so wrong and completely blindsided!  I LOVE my doctors but she was not happy with me and she certainly did not sugar coat a thing.  She talked a lot about viability of a baby at 23 weeks, 24 weeks, 25 weeks etc.  Obviously, 23 weeks is not a good place to be if you expect to take your baby home.  My hope is that she was just trying to scare me but I certainly didn't take it well and neither did my mom.  There were a lot of tears.  To be clear, I was NOT in labor but I was contracting pretty consistently which would be great at 38 weeks but not 23 weeks!  My first orders were for increased fluids and moderate bed rest with a follow up in 2 days...didn't work (back to doctor)...so my next order was bed rest and drugs!!!  Bed rest?????  Exactly what does bed rest look like for a mommy of a 3 year old, with a hubby out to sea, and no family in the area?  Trust me I asked.  The response was "do you know what the survival rate of a baby born at 23 weeks looks like?"  OK, I get it!!!  THANK GOD for my Mom being in town!  She helped take over while I attempted bed rest!  If you know me well, you know that I am not the type to lay around so this was a challenge!

"Bed resting"

Tuesday hadn't ended yet...on the way out of the doctors I get a call from the vet!  Buddy is still under anesthesia and does not have an infected anal gland, he has a large tumor in his back side that has worked its way to the outside and the blood is the deterioration of cells (I hope I explained that right) and we have decisions to make.  80% chance it's just a mass, 20% chance it is cancer.  He gave a few options but his recommendation (and of course the most expensive option) is to remove the tumor and take away his manhood.  DONE...whatever it takes!  What time is it????  11:00am...is it bedtime yet?  How much money have I spent in 1 day oh wait the days not over?  When does Leif get home?  phew

He hated me for making him wear this...

Buddy comes home that afternoon and cries for 2 days straight.  I am not even lying...all day and all night...so guess who was up ALL NIGHT LONG!!!  Ms. Bedrest was up and down all night long...standing in my backyard in nothing but a t-shirt...POOR BUDDY!

 (sorry no pictures of me in my t-shirt at 4am)

Now, a week later, Buddy is doing great!  He is healing well and letting me get some much needed rest!  I am still in the same situation but we are working on it and I am confident that everything will be just fine!  Aiden has been a real trooper about Mommy "taking it easy".  My mom stayed with me as long as she could and did her best to keep Aiden busy.  He is 3 and is used to me but certainly had a great time with Grammy and I needed the help! Thanks Mom!  Leif came home and took over!  If I stepped out of bed he was right there questioning my every move!  Thanks to Sandy he actually had a day off but he will leave again this week until Thanksgiving :-(   I spent 3 hours at the doctors today...my awesome neighbor took Aiden for me so that I could concentrate on my appointment and not entertaining a 3 year old in a room with a bunch of monitors and cords.  Most importantly our baby boy is doing good.  I am thankful that I got another look at our sweet boy who was...sucking his thumb!!!  I am also thankful that I have home health care.  When most people would be sitting in a hospital room with IV fluids and meds, I am lucky enough to be laying in my bed with my son playing next to me!  The nurse comes to me once a week and I see the doctor weekly and sometimes twice a week.  We, baby and I, are well taken care of!  Oh...and Buddy's tumor was benign...NO CANCER!!!  This week is off to a better start already :-)

ps...my belly popped :-)

Family Photos

A few weeks ago we finally had some recent family photos taken.  I act like it had been an eternity but it had really been just about a year since our last professional session.  I wanted to have 1 last session with the 3 of us before I started to show mainly for 2 reasons.  1.  I will probably have maternity photos taken so I wanted the focus to be on capturing us with Aiden and not a baby bump and 2. Leif's gone so much that I knew it was now or never.  After rescheduling several times for various reasons, all of the stars lined up and we were ready for our pictures.  Of course, 2 days before pictures Aiden busted his head open but I knew there were plenty of ways around it so we kept our appointment with the photographer.  I have to admit that I am always a nervous wreck before and during a photo session...please tell me that I am not the only one???  I mean really, how natural is it to "act natural" in front of a stranger who is holding a camera and your money just waiting for the perfect "natural" shot!  Kids are one thing because they can be so unpredictable but then add your husband into the mix (on a Sunday evening) and expect perfection!  I definitely think that "lifestyle" photography is the way to go but in my opinion it requires some sort of acting.  Don't get me wrong, Leif and I are in love BUT we aren't usually displaying that for someone else to capture...so, as usual, I am long winded and I haven't even touched on finding the perfect outfit with out looking like a bunch of dorks :-)  Maybe another time!  Here are a few of our AWESOME family pictures!  (Most of these were already on Facebook...with a couple of new ones)

Almost 14 years together!

He is our world!

Hello good hair day!

My life...

Although we didn't want to focus on the "bump" (or lack there of) we did manage to grab just a couple of shots while Aiden was warming up to the camera/playing on the beach...

I admit...I was pushing my stomach out a little!  Don't judge!

We are going to save a few for Christmas cards and also some really cute ones with our newest boy's name announcement!  Overall, I was completely stressed for nothing!  Aiden was in a fantastic mood and our photographer was very personable which made it easy for us to "act natural" in front of her!  It also helped that Leif thought it was hysterical to whisper his bathroom habits into my ear to make me laugh!!!

I really do LOVE all of them but I will leave you with my favorite!  I believe that this picture fully captures the love and admiration that Aiden has for his Daddy!  They say "a picture is worth a thousand words", this is an example of that....

*For my Hampton Roads friends...if you want the deets on our photographer just message me*

Library Costume Party...

"Woody, are you ready to save the world with me?"

Last week was a crazy one for us.  But the calm before the storm was Monday night which was spent with some of our awesome neighbors at the library for a kids story time fall festival!  I got Aiden all dressed up and we headed down the road for some fall fun!  Woody met up with his pals Superman, Mr. Pirate, and Ms. Pirate otherwise known as Aiden, Blake, Connolly, and Roli.  The kids looked so cute in their costumes...

There were 2 stories read and one included some dancing to the  "Monster Mash"...these kids had some great moves but I was too busy watching them "shake their groove thang" that I didn't get any good action shots!

Next up on the agenda was craft time....

We really had a great time during the fall festival...it was a nice "Costume practice run" for Halloween.  Maybe it's just how Aiden is but I never know if he is actually going to want to wear a costume, so it was fun for him to get dressed up and show some excitement about being Woody.  This was our Halloween "dress rehearsal"!  Hopefully he will wear the hat for longer on Halloween!

Aiden's first field trip...

Yesterday was a very exciting day for my little "preschooler".  We took our first field trip with Aiden's class and both Aiden and I had really been looking forward to it!  The morning of the field trip Aiden had to have a talk with me.  It went something like this...
A:  Mommy, I want Daddy to go with us to the pumpkin patch.
Me:  I know, bud!
A:  But Daddy and I had a talk.
Me: Oh really?
A: Yes,  Daddy has to work on his ship BOOO but that's ok Mommy because we will have fun and see Daddy next week when he gets back!  We need to get a Daddy pumpkin, a mommy pumpkin, and an Aiden pumpkin just for Daddy!

Seriously...my boy takes it better than I do!  I have some of the best conversations with him and often forget that he is 3.  Knowing that he "understood" the situation definitely helped start a fun day!

We headed out to Taylor Farm to meet all of Aiden's classmate and start our fun adventure at the pumpkin patch.  The weather wasn't exactly as forecasted but it just added to the feel of fall!!!  Rain or shine we had a blast.

Meeting up with his Bud Connolly

First order of business...HAYRIDE

The hayride led us out to the "pumpkin patch" and one of the play areas...

This donkey must have tasted something sweet on Aiden's hand because he kept licking it!

The main event.....Picking our pumpkin!  Of course Aiden picked out the biggest "little" pumpkin they had and then said..."here Mommy, it's heavy"

THE WINNER

We tried to get a picture but Aiden wasn't having it...picture with Mommy? or Playing in a huge open field?  Mommy lost :-(

After snack time it was back to playing.  Aiden really enjoys playing with his classmates especially our sweet neighbors Connolly and Carolina.  I believe I saw some flirting between Aiden and "Roli"...Tara, if you are reading this I would not show this to Micah...he might not let us be friends!

Visiting some of the friendly animals...

This pretty girl loved the smell of pumpkin!

All aboard Connolly, Roli, and Aiden

And our attempt at a class picture....

I think it is pretty safe to say that all of the kids had a great time!  Aiden was exhausted and took a 3 hour nap after his field trip and then gave me absolutely no trouble at bed time!!!  I, ahem,  Aiden can't wait for the next one!

20 week "bumpdate"

(Warning: This is long but needed for my own records)

So I have officially reached the halfway point...well I am 2 days shy of 21 weeks but you get the point!  I haven't really kept much of a journal about this pregnancy due to our move and my sickness so I will try to add some updates on here when I can.
Here is a short catch up...

We found out we were pregnant on Saturday June 23, 2012...just about 4 weeks pregnant.
On Monday June 25th I started the zofran hoping to be ahead of the curve on the hyperemesis :-)  I tried but unfortunately was defeated very quickly.
We told a few immediate family members right at about 8 weeks...we needed someone to know in case I went on bed rest early but luckily I have escaped "official bed rest)...Do you know how hard it is to know you are pregnant and not be able to tell those you are closest too!  I know that technically we could tell people but based on prior experience we knew it was best to keep it hush hush!
We saw our baby's heartbeat at 11 weeks in an ultrasound and that little bean was so dang active I truly couldn't believe my eyes!  At this point the hyperemesis was in full effect and the doctor suggested we go ahead with the PICC line...being hard headed I thought/hoped I could tough it out and maybe this time it would go away...WRONG!!!
At 14 weeks the PICC line went it...we also had another ultrasound around 13 weeks because the DR could not get the heartbeat on the doppler...talk about nerve wracking!
In a sense I am lucky...I see the Dr every other week which means I hear my baby's heartbeat every other week.  On the other hand I am not there because I am healthy, I am a risk which means closer observation along with a home nurse visit once a week.
At 15 weeks, with a successful PICC line insertion, we finally let the cat out of the bag!  We were no longer trying to be discrete with our pregnancy!  We began to share the news with everyone :-)
At 15.5 weeks I started feeling movement...my doctor said that although it seemed early this wasn't my first pregnancy and I had lost so much weight that there wasn't much room for baby movements to be lost in.  Oddly enough, Leif felt the first movement at 16 weeks...we were both shocked :-)
At 17.5 weeks we found out that we are expecting a healthy baby boy...I kind of knew it!  My pregnancy/hyperemesis is almost exactly the same as with Aiden...I kind of felt like it was a boy but since I have only been pregnant with a boy I guess that is natural!  Our new baby boy looked great...small but that is to be expected with everything going on...all of his organs are gestationally perfect and just like early on he is SO ACTIVE!
My sister felt him move at 19 weeks :-)
Here we are at 20 weeks and 5 days.  At my last appointment I had FINALLY gained some weight!  I am still in the negatives but I "gained" a whopping 2 lbs   Our baby boy (YES he does have a name) is so darn active!  Sometimes I wonder when he rests but trust me I love it!  It is great piece of mind knowing that he is healthy in there with all of his flips and kicks!  Some days I think he can read my mind...when I am down in the dumps or worried, he always manages to make a move that says "it's gonna be ok Mommy"...I know, I am a dork :-)
The vomiting has not ended but that is OK!  We have it somewhat under control and that is really all I can ask for! 3 or so times a day is so much better than 20 times a day :-)

Here are a few pictures of our progress...

6 weeks

10 weeks

12 weeks

14 weeks

16 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks